Uhura's problem
by Evangeline Lajeunesse
Summary: Post-Into Darkness, When Spock and Uhura break up she starts to have feelings for a certain ensign Pavel Chekov, but will she develop feelings for her Captain as a result of an elaborate deception, staged because Spock is getting dangerous and emotionally compromised, he just can't let go. UhuraXChekov possible eventual UhuraXKirk we shall see. Uhura OOC


It had been two years since Kahn, the Enterprise had been recommissioned, and all of its personnel were back where they belonged and were performing admirably, as always. Except for two, Uhura and Spock were back, but they were both performing less than admirably. After Uhura had found out about Spock's betrothal she had wanted nothing to do with him, Spock on the other hand, wanted Nyota like he never had before. He was spending a vast majority of his time on the bridge staring contemplatively at his screens, and if Kirk hadn't known him better he would have thought that it was about the data scrolling through them, but Jim knew that this was about their knock out communications officer. He also was displaying extreme jealousy towards any male crew members that were near her. Even Kirk himself had been growled at a few times by the Vulcan, The word, "Mine", reaching his ears. Chekov mysteriously had been on the receiving end of most of this behavior, since he had been the closest to Uhura since the break up. Kirk would often find them roaming the hallways together during their time off, whispering to each other in Russian, or sometimes laughing with Sulu over meals, Kirk had actually taken to joining them; he knew though that Chekov would be the one to get her through this.

* * *

"Nyota, I think you should look at this." Chekov's voice echoed across the bridge and for a moment there was complete and utter silence. Spock's gaze snapped to the young man, and Kirk stared at him in disbelief, Spock had been the only one to call her by her first name, and that was a level of intimacy that none of the crew had come to expect from the normally so respectful Chekov. Uhura, however had simply gotten up from her chair at the communications station and made her way over to the front of the bridge in navigation. "_You see, it is a subspace anomaly, something that should be showing on the communications desk, but isn't. I don't understand it Nyota, help me, please." _ She nodded to him while he spoke in Russian and gestured to a set of equations on the side of the screen, they too were written in the Russian style, efficient and shorthand, but Uhura was used to the contemporary style, and while she would love to puzzle this out, the ship could be in danger, and it was important that they figure this out now. _"Pavel, I can't read these equations, I need you to change them into contemporary for me." _He nodded and punched a few keys on his screen and then moved aside for Uhura, _"Better?" _She nodded "Much. Thank you" Not even noticing they had switched back to English he spoke, "I do not know why you need them in contemporary though, my way is faster. You know I say that with the upmost respect Nyota." She nodded as her eyes moved across the screen, "If the ship is in danger than I want to take the quickest route possible to circumvent this, however I can't know what to do if I don't know if this is dangerous, standard is just faster for me." Chekov nodded in understanding and leaned back in his chair as Nyota's hands accessed the part of the screen closest to him, her hair brushing his stomach as she leaned across him for something Sulu had on his screen. While she was distracted getting exact navigational coordinates from Sulu Chekov gathered up her ponytail and began to place it into a bun at the base of her neck. She did not even flinch as he moved her hair into a different style, nor did she question why he was doing so, she simply offered a quick, "Thanks" over her shoulder as she finished her talk with Sulu. Spock's fists were clinching as Chekov's hands brushed Uhura's neck, and just as he was about to snap Jim spoke to him, "Mister Spock, please go and get Mister Scott out of engineering, I have no doubt that he will want to see this as well." Spock nodded stiffly and left the bridge, as soon as he did the tension in the room relaxed exponentially, Sulu and Chekov were speaking English, which was a relief to Kirk, and Uhura's calculations were coming along a lot better now that Chekov could help her directly. Soon they had concluded that the anomaly was not a danger to them, but they decided to skirt around the edge of it, just in case some variable had been overlooked. Everyone was quite happy that this had been avoided and Uhura sat back down at her station Chekov following her and whispering in her ear, _"You performed wonderfully my dear, and if you would like, I could teach you my system of equations." _She rolled her eyes at his term of endearment; she recalled that he had told her endearments were quite common in Russia, but still broke into a sunny smile, mirroring Chekov's own. "I would like that very much, Pavel." As they smiled at each other Uhura jumped into his arms, smiling as the Russian hugged her tight, her feet lifting off the ground. At that moment, Spock chose to enter the Bridge. He raised an eyebrow and decided that he would speak to the Russian later, as was the logical choice. With that decision made, he had Sulu transfer the math from Chekov's screens to his own, and got back to work. Chekov and Uhura were released from the bridge a few minutes later, along with Kirk and Sulu, leaving Spock on the bridge for another hour until he was off duty and with a bridge full of crewmembers that he barely knew.

"I'll catch up" Kirk said as he walked away from the group. They nodded, only Nyota bothered to stop him, she caught his arm as he walked away, "You alright, Jim?" she asked, he nodded. "Fine, Uhura, I just have to check up on something in engineering. I promise, I'll catch up." He smiled at her and she returned it. "Fine, just watch your back Captain." He nodded and walked away toward engineering. Once he left Chekov and Sulu walked with Uhura towards the rec room. "So, what's been up with you Uhura? You seem distant." Sulu asked her, "I'm fine Hikaru. I've just been distracted lately. I've told you a million times to call me Nyota." She finished with a bright smile towards Sulu. When they made their way to the rec room Sulu grabbed nurse chapel and pulled her aside, asking her about something far too medical for Chekov and Uhura. Chekov pulled Uhura towards a couch. _"He's right Nyota, what's troubling you. Is it something I've done, anything I can help with?" _She shook her head, _"While I appreciate your concern, Pavel, it's something I have to deal with alone." _As she got up to leave he grabbed her hand to stop her, she froze as she felt a shock go up her arm. _"Pavel let me go."_ Chekov shook his head, _"Not until you tell me what's wrong. You never have to go through anything alone, Nyota. That's what you have me for." _She smiled at him as a tear rolled down her cheek, _"Oh Darling." _Chekov murmured quietly in her ear, he said other endearments as he pulled her down next to him on the couch, he head resting on his chest. His arms made their way around her, pulling her tight against his body; he whispered words of comfort, of endearment, in English and in Russian as he held her. Chekov nuzzled her neck and stroked his hand up and down her back as she cried. When she finally did talk to him, once she stopped crying, she spoke in Russian. The language was safe for her, because she and Chekov were the only ones who spoke it on the ship. She had requested that the Captain 'program' the universal translators not to translate Russian unless they were in a mission. He hadn't even asked why, he looked into her eyes and asked, "Is this important to you" she nodded and so he had done it, smirked and cracked his neck, "Alright, I'll put my hacking skills to good use once again.". Just for her, because of that, she had allowed the Captain to become her friend. As she spoke to Chekov she remembered this, and she knew that she needed to talk to someone, her friends could help her get through this. _"Pavel, I'm worried." _He frowned and pulled back so he could look into her eyes. _"Worried about what, My Angel?" _She sniffled as his thumb gently stroked a tear off of her cheek. _"I'm worried about Spock. I don't know what he might do if he finds out that…" _she trailed off and he tilted he chin up so she would look into his clear blue eyes. _"That what, Doll?" _She shook her head and blushed, _"Nothing, nothing at all." _He smiled at her and leaned down towards her, their eyes locking and their noses brushing. Uhura's breathing was rapid and it seemed like forever before he said, _"Well then I guess I'll just have to fill in the blanks for myself" _and with that he kissed her. There were sparks, but not in the way the Nyota was used to, Vulcans manipulated psi energy with their skin, causing shocks of energy to be felt by humans. But that wasn't what she felt for this kiss; the sparks that she felt ignited her whole body, making her thirst for more. When they drew away from each other they were both out of breath, breathing heavily.

Spock walked into the rec room and saw Nyota's red eyes, as well as the dilated pupils of both the boy and her; he cocked his head, confused. Why were they feeling this way? He tried to reach out to Nyota through their partially completed physic bond. 'Nyota' but that was all he got through their bond before her mental walls slammed up, it was difficult to reach her through those walls, but not impossible. Her head whipped towards him, "Hello, Nyota." He said quietly, her eyes narrowed but she responded politely. "Hello, Commander" She turned toward Chekov "Pavel, I'm going to try to catch up with the Captain, would you like to join me?" Chekov nodded and as Uhura attempted to go out the door Spock grabbed her arm. "Nyota, please." His eyes were dark, darker than she had ever seen them; he looked dangerous, Vulcan even. She tried to pull her arm away from him and glared into his eyes, "Commander, let go." She hissed at him in Vulcan. His eyes narrowed, "I demand you speak to me Nyota. It is the logical thing to do." She shook her head, "You are emotionally compromised Commander, I will speak to you when you are not. Now get off of me!" She jerked her arm away from him with enough force that it would have dislocated her arm at the shoulder if he had not let go. "Ensign Chekov, may I speak with you please?" Spock said slowly and with little emotion. Chekov took a deep breath, "Certainly, Commander." Uhura grabbed his hand as he began to walk away with Spock. _"Be safe Pavel, please. For me." _Spock raised an eyebrow at her choice of using a language that no one on the ship other than the Ensign spoke. _"I will be safe Darling, and I will return to you soon, until I come back I want you to stay near Sulu alright? Then I won't need to be worried for you." _She nodded and he rested his forehead on hers until Spock cleared his throat. Chekov dropped a kiss on the top of Uhura's head before he followed the Commander out into the hall.

Spock took a deep breath, he had to explain this to Chekov, make sure the boy understood. But he had to do it calmly and logically, without violence preferably. Those rational thoughts flew out the window as the half Vulcan lost all control of his emotions. He slammed Chekov up against the wall, a hand on both of the Russian's shoulders. He told himself to calm down; the boy was barely 18, the youngest on the ship. "Listen, Mr. Chekov, she is not yours, she will never be yours. Nyota will always be mine, you will not touch her again do you understand Ensign?" Chekov lifted his chin as well as he could in Spock's grip. "I will do whatever I see fit, Commander. Nyota is the strongest woman that I know and she is not an object. You will never control me, nor will you control her." Spock dropped Chekov, as he fell to the floor gasping for air. "We shall see Ensign. We. Shall. See." With that Spock walked down the hall away from Chekov and towards his quarters.

Chekov made his way back to the rec room and as soon as he came in he saw Sulu standing in front of Uhura, and Spock heading out the other door. "What happened?" Chekov asked nervously. "He came in and told Uhura that she would be his again and started speaking Vulcan, I'm not sure what was said but Uhura looked shaken, so I punched him, then he turned on me and Uhura tried to draw away his attention, so I backed her up against the wall and Christine threatened to go get the Captain. Spock left, as you just saw, and I'm hoping that he won't be much more trouble. Chekov drew Nyota aside so he could ask her what Spock said, _"Nyota, I need to know-"_he was interrupted by the door to the Rec room being thrown against the wall. Chekov pushed Uhura behind himself, just in case it was Spock, coming back. He relaxed immediately when he saw it was the Captain. "Uhura! Where is she? damn it!" She pushed Chekov gently to the side and she rushed to him. "Jim! Are you alright? You didn't run into Spock did you?" He scooped her up into his arms, cocooning her in his warmth and friendship, hoping to protect her from anything that could harm her. "I didn't run into him, Christine told me what happened, although she didn't know what was said. I ran down here to make sure you were okay." Chekov tilted his head to the side as he contemplated them, they acted almost like siblings, provided that you ignored Kirk's occasional flirting. Uhura nestled into Jim's chest as he stroked her back and whispered in her ear. "Uhura, I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise, it'll be fine, I swear. No one on this ship will let you be hurt. Think about Sulu, Christine, Bones, me, and Chekov. You can't forget about him, he loves you. We all love you." She sniffled and sighed. "Thank you, Jim. You can call me Nyota." He looked down at her, shocked. "I can?" He said quietly. She nodded "Yeah Jim, You can use my first name." He smiled brilliantly at her, and her responding smile was just as blinding. He let her go and they made their way to the mess hall for dinner, Chekov and Sulu trailing behind. As they passed the Med Bay Christine joined them, she gently squeezed Uhura's hand and they all made their way to dinner.

* * *

As Uhura was walking back to her quarters after dinner with Jim, Sulu, Chekov, and Christine when she met yet another member of the crew. "Wait up Uhura!" She stopped and turned at McCoy's voice. "Leonard, hey" she said as he jogged towards her. His arms wrapped around her and she was lifted off the ground. "Hey, are you alright? Jim told me what happened." She nodded, "Would you like to come to my quarters to talk?" Uhura nodded as he wiped a tear off her cheekbone, she smiled at him and they walked towards his quarters near the Med Bay. As soon as they got through the door Uhura collapsed against the doctor, he lifted her up into his arms and carried her over to his couch. "Darlin' I need you to tell me what Spock said to you that has you so shaken up." He gently stroked her hair and she nodded. "Alright. I'll tell you, but you have to hear the whole thing, the entire story." McCoy nodded and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "You also have to promise that you won't kill him. He's been emotionally compromised and until he meditates enough to get it under control he can't be held accountable for his actions." McCoy raised an eyebrow. "Darlin' you know I think of you like my daughter, you can't expect me to stand by and let someone hurt you." She nodded, "I know that, but I ask that you not judge him too harshly." McCoy let out a sigh, "Fine, but you're going to come to me if he does anything, right?" she nodded and began her story.

* * *

They had only mind melded once, it had been the day after his planet was destroyed, and Nyota had found herself in his quarters trying to console him. "Spock, I love you and I want to help you. But I can't unless you tell me what you're feeling." He had looked at her in confusion. "Are you certain you wish to know, Nyota." She nodded and he had placed his fingers on her face his mind and thoughts mixing with hers. She saw a younger Spock, bullied, hated, simply because of his mother. She saw the older Spock, still younger than this one, turning down the invitation to study on his planet, going to Starfleet. She saw him rising through the ranks as an instructor, teaching Vulcan. How talented he had thought she was, she saw their encounters, and how he had tried to distance himself from her and try to distance her from the danger he knew they would encounter on the Enterprise by placing her on the Farragut. The last thing she saw was the destruction of his planet and the loss of his mother. She felt the horrible, gut wrenching pain that he felt at this. She opened her eyes to see tears in his eyes as well, he gently stoked her cheek, "Oh Nyota.", and she knew what he had seen. Her childhood hadn't been a happy one, and he saw her worries and the pain she had felt. He knew her pride at having come to Starfleet and made herself the best in her class. He had seen how naturally languages came to her, and he had seen her thoughts about the Enterprise's crew, how much she loved them all. She was sure that it was her childhood that he fixated on though, the rest of her life had been rather happy, although her childhood had been the stuff of nightmares. Her abusive father, her loving mother who hadn't really been able to do anything, everything that she had hated, everything she had come to Starfleet to avoid. He reminded her of that the day that he had cornered her in the rec room. Chekov was out of the room and Sulu and Christine were facing the other direction when he had come to speak with her. "Nyota." She held her had high. "Yes Mr. Spock, how can I help you?" she said politely. He frowned at her formality, but continued anyway. "You could be mine again. You will be mine again." At this point Sulu had begun to pay attention, so Spock switched to Vulcan. "_**Come now, Nyota. You know I love you, that I would never hurt you. Do you really have the have guarantee from him? Think about it Nyota, I'm safe. He's barely a man; he has plenty of time to become what you loath. To become what you fear. I know your secrets, I know you better than anyone. Better than you know yourself. Consider that. What if he becomes violent Nyota? What will happen then? He WILL become what you hate Nyota. There is no other way for this to go. Just choose me Nyota; I will never turn into that, into your father, into Chekov." **_

* * *

McCoy jumped up from the couch, spilling Nyota onto the floor, "I'll kill him! Using that shit against you. Hell no!" Nyota groaned from the floor, "Leonard…this is so not funny." He smirked at her on his floor. "You look good on my floor Darlin'." she rolled her eyes. "Leonard. That isn't funny and you know it." He smirked, "You know I'm just joking. Come on, up you come" he grabbed her hand and pulled her off his floor. She toppled into him and pushed him onto his couch, "Damn Darlin, if I had known you were so eager, I would have brought you here sooner, think about it, candlelight, could be romantic." He said in a joking tone, she rolled her eyes and smirked at him. "Leonard you're such a dork." He smirked, "I'm your dork though, hell, so is Jim." She smiled and nodded, and realized that she was still on top of him, she blushed and pushed up to get off of him, only to fall down again as the door opened, "Doctor McCoy, I was wondering if you could assist me" Spock cut off in his explanation of what he needed the good doctor for as he saw Nyota and McCoy on the couch. "What is the meaning of this?" His voice was full of fury, he began to advance towards them and Leonard scrambled to put Nyota behind him, only to fall again, he started to grumble, "Damn faulty couch." At this moment Jim peeked his head around the corner to see into Leonard's room, he could see the tension in the room and decide to defuse it. He pushed past Spock and jumped on top of Nyota and McCoy on the couch, landing heavily, but managing to keep most of his muscled frame off of her. "Hey guys! Orgy and I wasn't invited." Nyota rolled her eyes but Jim smirked at her and winked, just_ play along_ he mouthed the words to her. "Oh, Captain, you're always invited." She said in a sultry tone, he nuzzled his face in her hair, pulling her close, hiding her tearstained face from Spock, "Am I indeed?" she smirked, "Of course, we just forgot about you for a bit, we would have called had it got more interesting." He knew that this applied to more than the false pretence that they were setting, it meant her and Spock and their argument. He looked down at her, inordinately serious, "Are you certain Nyota? Would you have?" she sighed and tried to put a light tone on the words she knew would anger him. "No, probably not." He pulled her close, his embrace tight, but not painful, "Why the hell not?" he growled down at her. She smirked, trying to change the subject, "You're sexy when you growl Jim. Will you do it again for me?" he buried his face in her neck, growling as he gently bit the skin. McCoy's voice rang out through the room, "You two can stop, he's gone." Jim pushed away from her, "Thank god." She raised an eyebrow, "Really Jim, really?" he rolled his eyes at her, "Not that you aren't sexy, but I have to have you looking at me to have a serious conversation. Sorry to disappoint, babe." She rolled her eyes, "What do you need to say to me Jim?"

"Nyota, baby, I'm your Captain, and even more than that, I'm YOUR Captain. Anything you need, call me, and I'm there. But I can't help you if you don't come to me. And I want to help you; you just have to give me the chance." Nyota sighed, "I know, Jim. You know I love you, and I want you to feel like you can come to me with anything. I'm sorry that I haven't been affording you the same courtesy. I'll tell you. I'll come to you first. I promise." Jim smiled at her and pulled her close, spinning her around as he lifted her off the ground. "Speaking of coming to you first, can I stay with you tonight?" Jim pulled her closer, crushing her to his chest, curling himself around her as if he could protect her from anything that might come near her. "Of course, whatever you need, honey. You don't think that he would…" Uhura shrugged, "I wouldn't put it past him, and until I change my codes he still knows them. And you're the safest person on this ship. Jim, he won't touch you." Jim smiled, "Come on, baby. I'll take you to my quarters; do you need anything from yours?" She shook her head, "Lead the way Captain." He slung his arm around her waist and led her back to his quarters.

* * *

Later that night, Nyota was lying under the covers in Jim's bed, and he sat next to her, shirtless, as he usually slept, on top of his covers. He poked her in the arm as she tried to focus on a xenolinguistics book that he had gotten her. He poked her arm again and she wrinkled her nose, casting a glare his way. He smirked at her and she threw her book at him. It missed him by a mile and he laughed at her aim. She pushed him over, rolling him off the bed. He landed on top of her, luckily catching himself before his weight impacted her. They both laughed, but they were interrupted by a chime at the door. "Computer, what is it?" he waited a moment until it responded; "Commander Spock wishes to speak with you Captain." Uhura looked up at him, fear in her eyes for only one moment before resolve covered it. "Can you follow my lead?" Jim smirked, "Why Miss Nyota, I would follow you anywhere." She smiled at him, throwing her arms around his neck. "Get back on the bed, and open the door." Jim smirked, "As you wish milady. Allow him to enter computer."

As soon as the words left his mouth he was pushed down and then pulled on top of her, "You're in charge now Jim." He smirked at her and winked, moving his head down to nuzzle her neck. He heard Spock yelling his name throughout his quarters; well as much as the Vulcan could yell. "Captain." He pulled Uhura close, she arched against him, her arms finding a place around his neck. "We've got about two seconds before he comes back here, prepare yourself," She smirked, "Oh, Jim dear, I'm always ready." He started to laugh, "Damn it Uhura, I'm trying to be sexy here, help me out." She laughed along with him and as the door opened he pulled her into a long, slow kiss. "Captain, I came to request…" He trailed off as he saw Uhura under a shirtless Kirk. Kissing the man as if there were no tomorrow. She pushed him over, "Oh, James." She said, nuzzling his neck. He smirked, "How can I help you Commander Spock?" his neck arching to give Uhura better access, which she took full advantage of. "Captain, may I speak with you alone?" Kirk placed his arm around Nyota's lower back and pulled her close, rolling over so she was lying on top of him. "Anything you have to say to me you can say in front of my girlfriend." She smirked at him, pulling him in for a kiss. Spock fumed, his fists clenching and unclenching as he tried to find his calm. "Captain, I formally request that you stop this in my presence." Kirk laughed, sitting up and pulling Nyota with him, "I respectfully decline", he said as he pulled her into a kiss. Spock quickly left Jim's quarters, emotionally compromised, he decided, he should spend some time on Vulcan, he would turn in his formal request with the Captain tomorrow, he could only hope that they weren't being quite as sickening on the bridge.

* * *

"I have an idea, but we need to talk to Pavel and Sulu, and probably Leonard and Christine." Jim nodded, "You got it" and pulled out his PADD from his bedside table and sent out the message to meet him now, in his quarters. Once everyone arrived, Uhura outlined her plan, first going over the events from the night before. "I can pull off a fake relationship with Jim, I know I can, but I need you all to be okay with this, it might be the only way to get Spock to leave me alone. Pavel?" Chekov sighed, but nodded all the same, "Whatever will make you happy Nyota, and the Commander is not going to leave you alone on my account, so this seems the most logical course of action, just promise me if, over the course of this, you begin to lose your feelings for me, tell me. Don't just leave me to stew." Uhura nodded, "Of course, Pavel. Thank you." McCoy agreed heartily, "Well, the green blooded bastard won't leave her alone otherwise." The other two agreed in much the same fashion, and Nyota smiled, "Then we shall let the games commence."


End file.
